Shenhua signs French striker Manset

China's Shenhua football club said it had reached agreement for the loan of French striker Mathieu Manset, who will play for the Shanghai team through to the end of June. Manset, who most recently played for Championship club Reading, had already arrived in Shanghai ahead of the season opener on 10 March, Shenhua said in a statement on its website late on Tuesday. The club did not disclose the financial details of the short-term contract. The move brings the number of foreign players at the Shenhua club to five, the highest number allowed under Chinese rules, the Oriental Sports Daily reported. French striker Nicolas Anelka, the highest-profile foreign footballer ever to sign for the Chinese league, will also play for Shenhua this season. Anelka has been practising with Shenhua since arriving in China in mid-February and the club hopes he will help boost the team, which finished 11th in the Chinese league last season. Shenhua's other foreign players are Australian Joel Griffiths, Brazilian Moises Moura Pinheiro and Serbian national Mario Bozic.